Belgrade a city with a soul, where every street and every person tells their own story. Throughout this city’s history, people have left their mark and influenced its appearance, architecture, gastronomic offer, and the habits of the people of Belgrade. But here’s the thing about being influential: it’s not for everyone. It takes a certain kind of person to stand out in a crowd and be heard. Let’s take a look at some of the men and women who have made their mark on Belgrade in a feature column by Duška Jovanić, which is out each month
IDA PRESTER
Musical artist
Legions of young Belgraders have crowned her as empress. She reciprocates with her unique displays of modesty, in which only those who do not really know her don’t believe. She is, first of all, an unworn repertoire of talents, style, knowledge and wisdom on many topics, which, at first glance, makes her a person who behaves and speaks as if she has no secrets. Especially when she so cutely bursts with laughter, which is not easy and not everyone can do it. With Ida Prester, we all feel somehow important, envy her chic-shock clothing colours and hold on tight as we try to follow this beauty of a woman. She was born in 1979 in Zagreb, then in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. She is officially known as a Croatian TV host and singer in bands such as Lollobrigida, Frau Casio and MAiKA. She is married to a very interesting Serbian man called Ivan Peševski, with whom she has sons Rok and Rij. She is one of those persons who live with a strict romantic justification of a fateful moment, no matter how tireless she is in breaking all the world’s taboos. For her, Belgrade is a drama, an action film, one of those crazy and photogenic cities. She immediately fell in love with its soul, despite a certain number of revolutions. She has no qualms about admitting that in Belgrade she realized that she is still a small-town girl, coded by her childhood in a more peaceful environment. It’s hard to believe it though. Where did this fragile blonde learn to think and speak so boldly about parenting, the terror of youth, the rights of the LGBT population and not to believe in idols? She even dares to thank the universe that in her time there were no dangerous social media or developed technologies. It sounds paradoxical, considering her activism, but she is already planning to welcome her seventies with a lot of joy, as a lady unburdened by years and unhealthy paranoia of old age, because even then she will love her life as she directed it herself. You are welcome, baby!
KRSTO RADOVIĆ
Pastry chef
Maybe this is not grammatically correct, but it’s true – This guy cakes Belgrade. This is a guy who made his sweet dream come true. He opened a pastry shop, which is no mean feat, so the famous “Mandarina” in Belgrade doesn’t even resemble a sweets laboratory at first glance. Fluorescent (natural!) colours are delicacies for pampered palates, almost pinching the eyes, while the pastry chef really looks like a respectable cake doctor. “My god of sweets is Pierre Hermé, a culinary emperor, the king of macarons, the Dior of desserts and officially the most famous confectioner in the world”, admits Krsto, rejoicing like a child. He met him in London while working at the Claridges Hotel. He hoped that he would immediately make something for Madonna or JLo, but first, he chopped fruit all day for a year. That’s how he learned that the most important thing in his job is to be calm, focused and relaxed. Stars, like sugar, come at the end. In the meantime, he also became the creator of the heretical idea that cake is not be all, end all, as it is the easiest to make. He broke another of the ancient misconceptions that the cake must be (too) sweet. In his world, the most important thing is that the delicacy shouts from the shop shelves – Buy me, eat me! Despite the sweet art concept, he too has a stained recipe notebook that he carries around with him. When he chooses a cake to make, he acts like an architect. First, he draws the structure, then he thinks of the texture and colour and starts “building”. Apart from being a reference in his CV, the title of Master of Arts in Pastry is also a result of his family tree. He was born into a family of bakers, so already, at seven years old, he was grating apples and stealing the secrets of the trade that would later make him famous. I guess that’s why even today he likes to knead croissants all night, which engulfs the whole into a sweet aroma. Keep baking for Belgrade, dear Krsto!
MARINA ABRAMOVIĆ
An icon of conceptual art
This woman changed the world, not just Belgrade, but she had to start somewhere. She has been Marina Abramović ever since she was very young. Queen of performance. Professor of body art. The high priestess of pain and body exhaustion. An artist of unpredictable psychophysical states. Goddess of movement, mimicry and gesture. Although she had been recognized in Europe for decades, it was the three-month marathon at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York in 2010 that brought her worldwide fame and success. As part of the ‘The Artist is Present’ project, she sat motionless for over seven hundred hours, staring at complete strangers. Without a single word said! And with a few tears shed! I was there, among the thousands of people who participated in that memorable experience. Her whole life is a concept. Just as her first and last name became her occupation a long time ago. Running away from her past in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and her strict partisan mother, she lived on love and art for years with Ulay, the man of her life. They decided to settle down and get married on the Great Wall of China. They walked towards each other for three whole months, they travelled two thousand kilometres on foot to meet at one point. Then they just passed each other and parted forever. It took her almost seven years to come back. She first entered Dior and fell in love with fashion. As the greatest artist not only of life but also of death, Marina has long directed her departure, with a little help from her friend, the magical Bob Wilson. And while others only cross borders, she, with all her strength of soul and body, in her memoirs, passes through walls. A few years ago, at the Museum of Modern Art, Belgrade tried to give back to her everything it had taken from her. And she still has the best time telling jokes with her friends.
NEMANJA RADULOVIĆ
A violinist
He recently got Belgrade on its feet with a spectacular concert at Tašmajdan. After that, he “ran over” half of Serbia next. But, in his case, this is nothing new. This guy has been a violinist on the roof of the world for a long time. Even when he plays folk songs in a badass way. He arrived in our lives in the style of a charming, dishevelled, crazy hair tightrope walker who resembles a cross between an Andersen hero and a rock star. Not at all ostentatious and not implacable in a world that regards self-centeredness as its main virtue. He almost always looks like he’s about to take off in Disney’s Peter Pan leather leggings. He is always smiling, as if life is a continuous celebration. I knew how he ruled the music like the emperor of the violin and the stage, but I was hungry to know what this magical being was made of inside. Again and again, he knows how to use his moment of eternity in such a way that he didn’t even need advertising masterminds. He was born in 1985 in Niš. His perfect pitch was discovered very early on by his mother. She left her job as a radiologist, persuaded her husband to sell the apartment, and the family of five moved to Belgrade. Nemanja had his first public performance at the age of eight, by standing on an improvised stage. At the age of fourteen, he was admitted to the Music Academy. A few years later, the Radulović family arrived in Paris, where they experienced the most beautiful and saddest events. So far, he has taken us for a wild ride with his violin a thousand times. On average, he has a hundred concerts a year and phenomenal contracts. When it comes to instruments, it looks like he’s in love. “You need to find the violin that suits you best. To me, the violin is both joy and comfort”, he says, while wishing for everyone to be just happy. Thank you, precious Nemanja!
SLAVMIR STOJANOVIĆ
Graphic Designer
His name predestined him to fame, but he did not reach it with his incredible football talent, which he still loves to play to this day. It wasn’t even the comedic yet spectacular dance moves he learned as a kid while breakdancing that mesmerized his peers and catapulted him to stardom. His third childhood passion proved crucial – he constantly drew everything he saw or imagined. He perfected the design in Gothenburg. The dominant brutal visual simplicity there collided with the complicated Balkan urges to create what later became known as the lifestyle brand Futro. He learned from the local biggest idea genius, Dragan Sakan, in order to continue working in the most powerful marketing agencies as a designer and art director. Later, he opened his own studio. He still does what he did as a child – he literally aesthetically repairs the sloppy reality that surrounds us. His recognizable “Slavimir” signature can be found on most things around us – on logos, billboards, posters, t-shirts, bags and books. His passion for visual expression has kept him at the top of the graphic arts for years and he was even included in Taschen’s book of the most influential designers in the world. His graphic solutions always hide a puzzle that makes people think and this is what can be considered his biggest influence on Belgrade. Nothing about Slavimir is ready-made – he received the Lifetime Achievement Award before graduating from the Academy of Applied Arts after thirty years of studying. He did it for his father and somewhat to beat himself. He not only draws the best but also writes excellently – “Devet” is his bestseller novel written in illustrated stories. And yes, he was the first person in Belgrade to have a square wedding cake.